1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to charcoal starters having a housing which provides an upper chamber to contain the charcoal, a lower chamber to provide a space for a charcoal igniter such as wadded up newspaper, a grate to separate the upper and lower chambers and to hold the charcoal in position. They also typically provide a plurality of ventilation holes that allow air to pass through the housing and up through the grate plus a handle for dispensing and portability. This type of charcoal starter is preferred over the charcoal lighter fluid method, which is a slow process and can leave a petroleum taste in the food cooked later.
2. Description of Prior Art
Charcoal starters or chimneys are well known and readily available in a variety of shapes and sizes, all having the same intent to deliver incandescent coals for heating or cooking. The majority of devices require the dangerous method of pouring incandescent coals into a barbeque grill with no protection from the incandescent embers and ash that are splashed about in the bottom of the grill and possibly injuring the user of the device. Yet another problem is that the charcoal starter is typically limited to heating the charcoal to incandescent by means of wadded up paper. The ash left by the paper will float up and rest on the food being grilled, making the food less appealing.
One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,325 to Stanley J. Williams. This excellent invention describes a method to protect the user from the dangerously hot sidewalls of the charcoal starter. Although this invention does provide a certain level of safety to the user, it does not protect the user from the splashing of incandescent embers and ash when they are poured into the grill. It also provides for only one method of igniting the coals without lighter fluid and that is the use of paper or the like in the lower chamber directly beneath the grate.
In another excellent invention as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,807 to Judith Flamenbaum, a method to prevent the splashing of incandescent coals and ash is described by having a fold down or drop down grate. This would allow the incandescent coals and ash to drop out of the bottom of the device and eliminate the need for the pouring of the incandescent coals and ash. However, this method calls for a center post plus its support members and a two piece fold away grate, all of which provide for locations for the incandescent coals and ash to become lodged or stuck. Although this invention does provide for a certain level of safety for the user from splashing incandescent coals and ash, it is also more complex to produce then the present invention and provides for only one method of igniting the coals without lighter fluid and that is the use of paper or the like in the lower chamber directly beneath the grate.
In another excellent invention as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,455 to Ross Tessien in which a method for heating coals in a charcoal starter by use of either; an electric heating element or wadded up paper. However, the method described requires that the grate be a built in electric heating element in a three dimensional shape, more specifically, conical in shape. Although the invention does an excellent job in heating of the coals more rapidly and gives the user two options of heating the coals, one with wadded up paper and the other with an electric heating element, it still requires the dangerous practice of the user pouring the incandescent coals and ash into the bottom of the barbeque grill. The Tessien patent also limits the user to a conical shaped electric heating element which is not readily available in the market and not easily removable. The improved invention described in this patent allows for not only for the use of two methods to create hot embers, wadded up paper and a common electric heating element, it also allows for the use of a hinged grate with a release mechanism to safely deposit the hot embers and ash into the grill.
In another excellent invention as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,854 to Garner B. Byars in which a method heating charcoal to incandescent and using a hinged grate to drop the incandescent charcoals out the bottom of the charcoal starter and into the grill. Although innovative, it too is limited to using combustibles like wadded up paper to start the coals, were as the improved invention described in this patent also allows for the use of wadded up paper and electric charcoal starter. The Byars patent uses a single piece hinged grate; the grate automatically opens, by gravity, when the charcoal starter is lifted. This limits the dispensing of the incandescent coals to the exact location the charcoal starter is set down. The improved invention described in this patent, because the release mechanism locks the hinged grate in place until activated, allows the charcoal starter to be moved from one location to another location for the dispensing of the incandescent coals.
In another excellent invention as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,321,907 and 4,461,270 to Richard A. Sutter in which a hinged grate is described and uses a trigger mechanism to release the hot embers safely into the grill. Although innovative by use of the trigger mechanism, the release of the trigger requires the use of two hands, one hand to hold the charcoal starter and the other hand to release trigger, thus allowing the hinged grate to rotate about the hinge and deposit the hot embers into the grill. However using the second hand to release the trigger mechanism puts the second hand dangerously close to the hot charcoal starter housing. Also, the heat from the hot embers will be transferred down the metal wire frame and cause the trigger to become hot to the touch. The charcoal starter described in this patent allows for a one handed operation and provides for a thermally insulated release handle used to activate the release mechanism, thus making the operation easy and safe to use.